But Corrections Department spokeswoman Stacey Solano says female guards are critical at both male and female prisons.
The announcement comes after a recent report by the Chicago-based John Howard Association on the Dwight Correctional Center. The group said that it received reports of inappropriate behavior by male correctional officers at the prison, including physically aggressive and sexually suggestive actions.

The watchdog group’s report claims that “inmates expressed distress over lack of privacy.”

Corrections officials say the ratio of male to female guards throughout Illinois’ prison system is currently about 5.4 men to 1 woman.

Exactly what steps might be taken to hire more female guards has not been spelled out.